Microsoft: Only 50 Percent Of Xbox Live Users Pay For Gold Subscription

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Microsoft certainly used a lot of words at some Credit Suisse technology conference yesterday, but only a few of them are worth relaying here. The main thing that its Interactive Entertainment Division CEO, Dennis Durkin, said that a whopping 50 percent of Xbox Live users actually pay the $60 per year for Xbox Live. There’s 25 million Xbox Live subscribers, so you’re looking at something like 12.5 million Xbox Live Gold subscribers. How many of these 12.5 million people aren’t jerks? That’s all I want to know.

You’ll recall that Microsoft jacked up the price of an Xbox Live Gold subscription by $10, from $50 per year to $60 per year. Microsoft says that’s to help cover the cost of all the fancy new features Xbox Live Gold subscribers get, such as… online multi-player! And access to ESPN and Netflix streaming video!

Eh, I suppose if you’re a big Netflix user that would be worth $60 per year (works out to $5 per month, in addition to whatever you pay to Netflix).

Additionally, Durkin doesn’t seem too bothered that much of the Kinect launch software really isn’t all that good, perhaps with the exception of Dance Central. That seems dandy.